


i’d like to see you try

by pagsilip



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - High School, Arcades, First Meetings, M/M, had to throw bnha here bcs im a sucker for that anime, he’s still a soft boy tho, hyuck curses a lot bcs he can, hyuck is a little shit, jeno was mentioned only once, they’re dorks too, they’re soft and in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24404560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pagsilip/pseuds/pagsilip
Summary: When it starts to rain in the middle of summer, Donghyuck has only one place to go.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	i’d like to see you try

**Author's Note:**

> this is me writing a fic instead of studying but yay let’s go

When it starts to rain in the middle of summer, Donghyuck has only one place to go.

He’s undeniably an outdoor kid, preferring to stay outside than wallow himself in the four corners of his house like a pathetic lonely loser (which he isn’t, by the way), but when the road is too slippery and everything is suddenly too muddy for him to tolerate he gathers his friends to head to the arcade.

The unnecessarily big sign outside lit up by blinding neon lights and the harmonious sounds of defeated groans and victory music calls to him the same way grassy paths and stretches of rivers do. When he pushes through the glass doors and hears the low buzz of the slushie machine along with the aggressive smashes of buttons he feels somehow powerful.

Only because he’s the champion for nearly all of the games in the arcade. Walk around and you’ll see the initials ‘LDH’ blinking mightily on the number one spot of the scoreboards—unfazed and unbeaten. He’s just that good at playing.

Especially at Plus Ultra. He fucking _slays_ in Plus Ultra. No one was ever good enough to nearly beat him, though there are always some challenges but never enough to kick him out of top five. Heck, he can take down anyone in a matter of seconds no matter who the opponent was.

Because he excels at bringing out the best in every character he’s playing. Donghyuck has their powers and super moves all imprinted at the top of his head; but if he could pick one character, he would play Hawks any battle any day. Donghyuck thinks he’s reached some sort of virtual agreement with Hawks whenever he plays.

Donghyuck doesn’t even need to think twice about what he’s going to play first. He heads directly at Plus Ultra that was situated in the middle of the arcade, the cabinet shining its red and yellow glory.

“Renjun, play with me.” Donghyuck demanded. He tugs at the back of Renjun’s shirt, practically dragging him as they walked towards the game. As soon as they reached it, Donghyuck situated himself at the player one spot because _it’s his throne_ , he said once.

“Hyuck,” Renjun whines, stretching the vowel as if that will save him from playing against Donghyuck. “I don’t wanna pay money to lose.”

“Don’t be such a pussy.”

Renjun clicks his tongue at that because if anything, Renjun is definitely _not_ a pussy. He begrudgingly muttered a ‘fine’ before he sat himself on the player two spot next to his friend. Donghyuck smacks the start button and the familiar music rang on his ears almost immediately, a grin already finding its way on his face.

Renjun picks Endeavour right of the bat, which wasn’t so surprising to Donghyuck considering he coached him with Endeavour before until it reached the point where he lost to him sometimes, _key word: sometimes_. Endeavour is a strong character, Donghyuck admits. With an intense fire power that could burn his opponents and leave them at his mercy, it would always be a 30% chance that you’ll win against him.

He picks All Might, who had multiple powers in him. Donghyuck claims that he’s the strongest but playing him wouldn’t bring that much fun at all, and Donghyuck didn’t exactly like the absence of a challenge. But if anyone could go against Endeavour, it would definitely be All Might. The game announced ‘START!’ and Renjun fired at Donghyuck using Endeavour’s blue flames, a predictable move coming from him yet also a dumb one. Donghyuck managed to dodge it just in time and landed a strong kick on Endeavour’s face, his hurt animation flashing on the screen. Donghyuck smirked at this, Renjun was quick but he was _quicker_.

Knowing that the blue flames also takes time to recharge, Renjun immediately fired at All Might in an attempt to lower his health bar. Donghyuck threw a strong wind power punch, pushing his opponent’s flames in any direction except at him, and with a few smashes on the buttons and an aggressive control on the joystick, All Might dashed in front of Endeavour. A power move at the perfect time.

“United States of Smash!” blasts through the speakers and Endeavour crashes to the ground with a harsh blow to his face, his health bar immediately decreasing to a zero.

Donghyuck turns to his friend, a grin plastered on his face. “Good game.” He said.

“Fuck off.”

Donghyuck’s laugh that follows right after sounded like he’s teasing as the scoreboard flashes on. His growing laughter was suddenly caught to his throat.

“Woah, Hyuckie,” Jaemin peered. His head squeezing in between the two boys’ faces with an amused look on his face. Donghyuck willed himself from not smacking his stupid ass face. Renjun only gawked at the screen with an open mouth and Donghyuck was left frozen on his seat.

What?

_What?!_

“Who the _fuck_ is _‘MRK’_?”

“No idea, but they took your number one spot!”

“That’s nothing to be happy about, Jaem!” Donghyuck fucking swears he was so close to punching that smile off his pretty face. He also swears that he was close to pulling all of his own hair off.

“They beat you by a whole three thousand, too.” Renjun shared, still shocked but was starting to enjoy it bit by bit.

“Do you think I can’t fucking see that?!”

Jaemin still had that shit eating grin on his face and Renjun’s fist was covering his mouth to hide his upcoming laugh and Donghyuck wants to punch a wall.

With all the sanity that was left in him, Donghyuck stomps his way to the ticket counter and slams his hand angrily at the glass. The employee only looked at him with an unimpressed look.

“How many tickets you got, kid?”

“Who the fuck is ‘MRK’?”

“Hm,” the employee only blinked at him lazily. Donghyuck’s irritation grew, he was sure that he’s close to being angry.

“Why’d you ask?”

“That’s none of your damn business-“

“Did he beat you at Plus Ultra?”

“What- NO-!”

“‘Cause that’d be really fucking funny.”

The last line threw Renjun and Jaemin off as they crouched down to laugh loudly, Renjun’s hands on his knees to steady himself and Jaemin’s one hand placed on the other’s back while his arm was wrapped around his stomach. Donghyuck seethes.

“Shut up.”

“Alright.” The employee replied with no interest in his voice at all as he lightly played his hair. Fingers pinching at the silver strands resting idly on his forehead. Stupid fucker, he was better off bald.

Donghyuck clicked his tongue in annoyance. “If you see this ‘MRK’, tell them to fight me properly instead of hiding in the shadows like a damn coward, beating these losers for bullshit high scores.”

“Chill, little dude. It’s just a game.”

Donghyuck huffs as he turns around, a slight frown on his face because he knows it’s just a game but it’s _his_ game, and he won’t let any fucking nobody take his number one spot and _get away with it_.

By the time the arcade closes Donghyuck had spent all of his allowance and each a half from Renjun and Jaemin’s. He managed to obtain high scores and got to the top three, pushing ‘MRK’ down to the fourth place. He also beats MRK’s high score by five thousand points and named his username ‘FKU’ as some sort of threat, apparently.

He’s still annoyed.

Though the rain had stopped pouring.

The rain sometimes lasts for three days at most. The heavy yet warm kind of rain that leaves Donghyuck more sticky than he usually is when it’s dry outside.

He tricks his father into giving him more money for the arcade. Well, he just asked and he gave it with no questions, even close to defending him when his mother rebutted suspiciously. But Donghyuck always had a way with his words, which were terrifyingly convincing most of the time.

When he winds up to the arcade with his friends, he briskly shakes his umbrella—purposely targeting his friends to which they cussed about shamelessly—and tucked it in with the rest inside the stand next to the door.

Plus Ultra was standing on its own, no one crowding it despite its enticing beauty. Donghyuck walks up to the game because he needs to know if anything changed in the scoreboards within the course of the night, he does have some sort of reputation to protect.

He grabs Jisung on the way where he was watching Chenle ultimately lose at Galaga. Pathetic. He drags him by his arm, the younger wriggling and protesting, and sets him down on the player two seat.

Before Donghyuck could reach down his pockets to get some change, Jisung grabbed his wrist to stop the motion. Donghyuck shot him a glare and Jisung immediately retracted his hand back.

“Hyuck, can’t you ask someone else to play with you? Like Jeno or something...”

“What? Afraid that you’ll lose or some shit?”

“It’s not that! It’s just... my fingers still hurt from playing with you last night.” Jisung reasoned, his voice going softer at each word. Donghyuck only looked at him incredulously. The audacity of this bitch-

Donghyuck fished out the needed change and slipped it right in the coin slot, paying for both him and Jisung. “Suck it up, you big baby.”

Jisung grumbles and picks Red Riot, and of fucking course the younger would pick Red Riot, he was his go-to player like how Donghyuck was with Hawks. He chooses Ground Zero, though, because he enjoys the gradual desperate look on Jisung’s face whenever Red Riot’s power comes to its limit.

The game shouts start and Donghyuck was instantly in the zone. Eyes determinedly fixed on the screen and hands dancing around the controls expertly. In a span of fifteen seconds, Red Riot’s defeat was announced with the word ‘K.O’ in big, red letters. Donghyuck shouted in victory and did his little victory dance to rub it in Jisung’s sorry face.

God, it feels _great_ to be king.

“Hyuck,” Jisung called but Donghyuck ignores it as he continued to dance with his eyes closed.

“Donghyuck, you might want to stop dancing.”

Donghyuck opened his eyes to look at Jisung, not noticing the evident shock and subtle delight in his facial features as he gazed at the screen. “What-”

He turns to look at the screen and he abruptly stopped dancing. ‘LDH’ was not seen on the scoreboard anymore and ‘FKU’ was demoted all the way down to fifth place. The username ‘MRK’ taking its place on the second down to the fourth and a mocking ‘HEY’ was sitting prettily at the top.

“Oooh! Maybe they’re flirting.” Jaemin teases and it sounds absurd to Donghyuck’s ears.

“What-”

“Maybe they’re calling you out for cursing at him.” Renjun, who was trying to keep a straight expression, added. Donghyuck has never wanted to kick someone straight in the face.

“Excuse me-”

“I think he’s flirting with you.” Where did this silver haired bitch come from? Doesn’t he have a ticket counter to attend to?

“Shut the fuck up!” Donghyuck faces the employee with a squint.

“You said ‘he’ so you definitely know who the fuck it is. Who is it?”

The employee blinks and bowed his head down to let out a chuckle, his hand automatically reaching out to his nape only to play with his hair. Seriously, what is his deal with his hair.

“Didn’t think you’d catch on that quickly, kid, so i’ll bend. ‘MRK’ is my younger brother, he comes by after closing time to play until God knows what hour.”

“He can do that? Won’t your boss find out?” Jisung asks with wide eyes.

“‘S no big deal since we own the place.”

“This is a family establishment? No fucking way!” Jaemin slaps Renjun repeatedly with excitement and Donghyuck wasn’t sure what exactly is exciting about that.

“Our old man owns the place and I just help him run it and shit.”

“Uhuh. And this younger brother of yours,” Donghyuck was still fixed on this ‘MRK’ because no one can just waltz in and sweep all of his high scores without putting up a proper fight. “how ‘young’ is he?”

Donghyuck would much rather stab himself if he found out he was being beaten— _cheated_ by some nine year old.

“Hm,” The employee lightly scratched his eyebrow, which was also dyed silver. How in the fuck did he dye his eyebrows into silver. “I think he’s eighteen?”

“He’s a year older than us Hyuckie! And he likes arcade games! Maybe he’d like to head to the hilltop too, he should definitely hang out with us!” Jaemin, being the clingy person he is, wraps his arm around Donghyuck’s slouched figure and directs all of his excitement to the silver haired man. “Is he around? What’s his name? Does he only play Plus Ultra?”

“Woah, woah, slow down, little dude,” The employee had both of his hands up as a sign for Jaemin to, indeed, slown down. “He just got back from Canada and he’s gone nocturnal, claiming that he hasn’t fully adjusted to the time difference yet. Like I said, he comes by every night and plays Plus Ultra til who knows when.”

Donghyuck sneers. “Sounds like a sore loser.”

“He sounds like a cool dude,” Jaemin chirps. “it’s rare to find someone who can actually beat Hyu-“

“Finish that sentence and you’re dead meat.”

“How do you tolerate this kid?” Donghyuck thinks the silver haired bitch deserves to be dead meat too.

“He’s got the money.”

“ _What the fuck_? Renjun get the _fuck_ back here!“

Donghyuck chased down Renjun under the pouring rain and ended up outside a convenience store three streets away from the arcade. Both boys were leaning against each other as they calmly relished their popsicles—which Donghyuck paid for—their clothes wet and clung to their bodies stubbornly. Donghyuck scrunches his nose at the uncomfortable sticky feeling in his skin.

“I’m going back tonight.” Donghyuck shared as he swallowed the very last bit of his popsicle.

“To the store?”

Donghyuck looked at his friend as if he grew a second head. How in the fuck was he the top of their class.

“No, dumbass, to the arcade.”

“But it’ll be closed by then.”

“I’ll break in. _Duh_.”

Renjun hummed at his supposed plan, giving his popsicle a lourd slurp, a tad of it melting its way past his lips and settles to dry there. Disgusting.

Renjun turned to Donghyuck in consideration. “D’you wanna borrow my lock picking kit?”

“You mean that Tic Tac case that you filled with bobby pins and paper clips?”

“Yep.” A part of the popsicle was already dripping down to his fingers and Donghyuck wonders how the hell does Renjun manages to withstand the growing stickiness in his face and in his hands. Donghyuck doesn’t voice it out loud.

“Yeah, let me borrow it.”

“‘Kay.”

By the time they got back, the sun was already dipping below the horizon, but the daylight still lingered on the air, refusing to let the sky fade to black just yet. The rain had stopped a while ago when they were still at the store, though the humidity remained. Jaemin and the rest were crowding around Donkey Kong as they watch Hyunjin beat the game probably for a while now. Hyunjin was solely doing it for the purpose of filling the scoreboard with ‘TIT’, and Donghyuck doesn’t know if he should be amused or concerned. Heejin was standing right beside her, her hand resting on the other’s waist as she continued to watch her from the side. Donghyuck would have gagged at the subtle display of affection by now, but he knows how happy it makes the both of them. Hyunjin was unexpectedly good at any other games but ultimately sucked with games that involved fighting. Heejin, on the other hand, has beat Donghyuck for at least a couple of times by the use of Thirteen in Plus Ultra, which he always claimed as cheating or a cowardly move.

Donghyuck thinks that he needed to practice if he was going to beat MRK’s ass, and the perfect candidate for a practice match would be Heejin.

“Heej, play with me.”

“Hm? I’m kinda busy, Hyuck-o.”

“You’re just giving Hyunjin the heart eyes, you’re _technically_ not doing anything.”

“She’s giving me emotional support.” Hyunjin contributed, her eyes still fixed on the screen.

“Hyunjin, I hope you lose.”

The two girls simultaneously flips him off with a finger. Donghyuck just rolled his eyes.

Despite numerous attempts to get Heejin to play with him, Donghyuck eventually stood around and waited until Hyunjin beats the final game and for her to jump into her girlfriend’s arms and for them to spin around for two minutes before he got to drag Heejin to play Plus Ultra.

Being the little bitch Heejin is, she didn’t utter a single word until the game shouted ‘START!’

“Is this about ‘MRK’?”

Donghyuck momentarily freezed and Heejin took the chance to land in on him a Black Hole sucking Hawks in without a fight. His health bar immediately decreasing to a half, Donghyuck curses inwardly.

“Where’d you hear that?” Donghyuck tries to land a direct hit on Thirteen with his feather blade but Heejin strategically went under and tried to hit Hawks with a back kick, but Donghyuck was fast enough to dodge it. He finally got an opening to hit back with a slash of his blade.

“Chenle.” Black Hole recharges and Heejin ultimately catches him again, because apparently that Black Hole sucks everything and anyone.

“That kid never lets a single gossip slip.” Heejin hits him once and victory flashes on her side. Hawks coughs at his side as the words of defeat flashes on with red letters. Donghyuck let out an annoyed ‘tch’.

“So,” Heejin leaned on the control panel, head propping on her hand as she looked at Donghyuck, “this ‘MRK’ guy really got into your head, huh?”

“Don’t be fucking ridiculous-”

“Is it because he’s better than you?”

“He’s definitely not better than me, he’s-”

“Absolutely kicking _your ass_ in _your game_.” Donghyuck gruffs at that. Heejin can be smug when she fucking wants to, and it happens all the time when she’s teasing him. What a fucking menace.

“That ‘MRK’ dude has totally rigged the goddamn program, and I’m gonna prove it.” He says, crossing his arms.

“Whatever you say Hyuck-o.” Heejin stood up from her seat to walk back to her girlfriend. “We’re heading to Donnio’s, so if you’re done sulking you’re likely welcome to join us.”

Well, shit. Donghyuck can’t play Plus Ultra without a player two, and the arcade is usually empty at this time around. And Donnio’s serves the best pizza in this shit hole of a town. He will come back later though, so he supposes eating will give him the energy he’ll need when he takes on ‘MRK’.

“Alright, I’ll come with.” Donghyuck ran in between Renjun and Jaemin, their arms slinging onto Donghyuck. Chenle started with another gossip on his lips as they made their way to Donnio’s, their laughter and banter filling the falling night.

Donghyuck knocked on Renjun’s bedroom window when the town was fast asleep, legs dangling from the tree branch he was sitting on. Renjun opened his window with a light scowl on his face after a few more consecutive—impatient—knocks from him.

“Fucking finally,” Donghyuck breathes. “what took you so long?”

“I was looking for the kit, you impatient fuck.” Renjun shoved the Tic Tac case to Donghyuck’s chest causing him to almost lose his balance, and Donghyuck rained his friend with colorful curses while he just looked back at him with a ‘serves you right’ face.

There was a slightly heavy weight on Donghyuck’s hand and he looked down and saw a screwdriver hastily taped onto the Tic Tac case. Donghyuck raises a brow.

“What’s the screwdriver for?”

Renjun shrugged. “It might help.”

“...Okay?”

“Are you sure you can go alone? I can come along, you know.”

“Nah, it’s fine. You get your beauty sleep, princess,” Donghyuck slipped the case in his back pocket and started to make his way back down. As soon as he jumped back to the ground, he looked up and saw Renjun looking down at him. “I’ll return this to you tomorrow.”

“You better. That’s a fine ass lock picking kit.”

The town was a lot more serene during the night, Donghyuck almost decided to head to the hilltop instead of the arcade. Despite no one being around, Donghyuck sneaked around the building crouching down. The big neon sign out front was the only source of light he has, it was still serenely quiet, and the front door was locked with a big ass chain.

The alley at the back of the arcade gave an eerie feeling to Donghyuck that his heart started to beat loudly in his chest, but he came here with a mission. He’s not gonna pussy out just because the alley looks like a murdering site.

He sat in front of the arcade’s back door as he took out the Tic Tac case from his pocket, and with a slight jiggle he got a bobby pin out. He instantly worked through the lock but it didn’t budge.

Huh?

Donghyuck tried to open it with a different bobby pin but nothing happened either, he tried a paper clip but got no luck too, he even used the screwdriver for good measure but the lock just _won’t fucking cooperate_. Donghyuck was starting to get frustrated.

And out of sheer frustration, he punched the door.

It opens.

The door wasn’t locked.

”Don’t know if they’re just clumsy as fuck or practically asking people to sneak in. Jesus.” Donghyuck mutters, finally entering the arcade with light careful steps.

Behind the door was just a bunch of boxes piled on top of each other. At his peripheral view, he saw a lone figure near the wall and Donghyuck flinches (jumps) and snaps his head to the direction of the figure. Said figure was the silver haired man’s uniform vest that he wears during work hours. Ridiculous. He lightly coughs to hide his heart hammering in his chest.

He appraoched the door that was slightly ajar, and he could see a faint light behind it, the sounds of an all too familiar sound of an ongoing battle in Plus Ultra and smashes of the buttons. It must be him. _It’s got to be ‘MRK’_. Donghyuck can feel his veins pumping as he slipped pass through the door and found himself behind the ticket counter. He could easily slip a couple of prizes in his jacket and no one will probably notice it, but that’s not why he came here, and Donghyuck isn’t a cheater unlike _some_ people.

Donghyuck ducks down to slid pass the squared opening that was under the glass cabinet and pushes open the little door and faces Plus Ultra.

There’s a lone boy standing in front of the game. His back facing Donghyuck, his figure in shadows illuminated by flickering colors of lights. He was entirely absorbed by the game, body swaying slightly as he smacks the buttons and controls the joystick with strategic ease.

Donghyuck stomped his feet as he approached the other boy, hands clenched in a tight fist at his sides. “Hey,” Donghyuck called out but the apprehended didn’t turn around.

“Hey, dickhead,” He tried calling again, voice coming out as a growl; said dickhead doesn’t turn around, still. Donghyuck fumes. As he comes to a stop right behind him, Donghyuck tries not to shove the dickhead’s face to the console as he notices that he had headphones on. Slim headband wrapped above his head and headphone cushions cupping his ear, a Discman clipped to his jeans. He was bobbing his head with the music and when Donghyuck stepped to his side, he could see him softly singing along. He was completely far in in his own world. Donghyuck is having none of it.

Donghyuck, doing the most Donghyuck thing ever, invades the other’s space and reaches to yank down his headphones forcefully.

“Don’t be fucking rude, asshole.”

Referred asshole stumbles back, a shocked breath leaving his lips and gripping at one of his headphone tightly, staring at Donghyuck with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

His eyes shone under the light coming from the console and Donghyuck, for a split second, found it mesmerizing. Black galaxy blinked back at the screen as his character dies in a slow brutal death.

To a bot.

“Fucking knew it that you rigged the fucking program. Do you know that nullifies all of your high scores? I can’t believe a _cheater_ stole my slots-”

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

Donghyuck halted at his little rant. The cheater didn’t spare him another look as he reached down to pull out a master token and put it right back in, a new game starting as it did. Donghyuck stared down at it with criticism, he had to use his own allowance for years and this fucker got to play for free?

 _Well, that’s just rude_.

Donghyuck slammed his hand on the control panel when the other was about to select a new character and grabbed his shoulder, pulling it harshly to face him.

“I said don’t be fucking rude.” Donghyuck jabbed an accusatory finger at the other. “I’m the guy whose scores you’ve been wiping out with your _cheating_ -”

“I’m not cheating.”

“I’m not fucking _blind_ -”

“I personally rearranged the program. I’m basically playing against myself, I did not rig anything.”

Donghyuck scoffed, and a chuckle escaped his lips, and then he was laughing—a laugh of disbelief. He can’t believe what _nonsense_ his ears are hearing. The other was just looking at him weirdly.

“Okay, _first of all_ ,” Donghyuck jabs his finger at him again. “you still rigged the program. The rules of Plus Ultra states that it’s a two-player game, and even if you are playing against yourself-”

“I am-”

“Don’t cut me off, dickface.” Dickface shuts his mouth.

“Even if you are playing against yourself, what’s the fucking challenge if you know the player you’re up against inside out? That’s boring as hell.”

“I’m doing fine by myself though.”

“That’s just sad.”

The other boy shrugs, attention averting back to the screen as he sees that he was up against Grape Juice. He picks Edgeshot without hesitation.

“Why Edgeshot?” Donghyuck slightly leans in, slightly judging and slightly catching a whiff of his cologne. Donghyuck tried to ignore the familiar scent of Obsession, a fresh citrus explosion harmonized with floral scents.

“I can just pass right through him and tear him apart from there.” Such maniacal words should never come out from a straight face.

True enough, Grape Juice was left without a fight as Edgeshot went around him and went through his middle, black irises switching to white as a sign that he’s knocked out. Words of triumph flashed in his side of the screen.

The master token slips out from the refund slot and he dips down to insert it again on the coin slot. Donghyuck smacks it away.

“Hey, no, you have to play _me_.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Why would you- Because that’s the whole point of why I broke in here! To fight you!”

“What, like a fist fight?”

“No, shit for brains, Plus Ultra!”

“Oh.”

Donghyuck smacks a hand on his forehead and let it slid down across his face, a frustrated groan coming out of his mouth right after. He didn’t know if this fucker was just clueless as hell or just plain stupid; either way, he can’t deal with those kinds of people very well.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah.” He stood up from his seat and started to walk away. _Is he trying to run away?_ Donghyuck quickly grabbed his wrist.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

He gingerly cocked his head to one side and stared at Donghyuck. “I’m gonna disable the program. How else are you going to play against me?”

 _Ah_.

“Right.” Donghyuck let his hand fall to the side. The other turned his heel to walk behind the cabinet.

There’s a loud clang as the back of the cabinet falls to the floor, and Donghyuck cringes. His poor Plus Ultra being manhandled by some asshole. He strides after the accused manhandler, ready to threaten him for hurting the only game he cares about, and found his whole upper body inside the cabinet. A light flashing every so often as he moved around inside.

“Can you hand me that Craftsman?” He asked from inside and Donghyuck crosses his arms.

“Get it yourself.”

The boy inside the cabinet huffed before he got out and snatched the Craftsman scattered on the floor.

By the time the program was disabled, Donghyuck was sitting on the floor cross-legged, and the other boy was telling him about the time when his brother, Yuta, hid the engine of their father’s car as some sort of protest for not allowing him to get a motorbike. When he got out of the machine, he has grease smeared across his cheek and they were both laughing at something that Donghyuck had said.

It was nice—a warm kind of nice—but Donghyuck didn’t come here to make friends. He came here to kick ass.

“Prepare to meet your doom, dipshit.”

Donghyuck cracked his fingers then shakes his whole body as he prepares himself for battle. The other boy’s former light expression turned into a determined one, mirroring Donghyuck’s. There could only be one king in Plus Ultra and it’s going to be Donghyuck.

“Woah there, tiger.” Donghyuck clutches at the other’s collar and pulls him to the player two spot. “Cheaters to the right.”

Donghyuck made himself comfortable on his usual spot, gathering the power it gives him when he plays. When he’s deemed himself comfortable, he feels a pair of hot eyes staring at him; it’s then he’s realized that the fucker hasn’t inserted his token yet. Donghyuck quirks his brow.

“What?”

“D’you wanna make a bet?”

“What’s the point. I’m gonna win anyway.”

“If you’re so confident then don’t reject it.”

This smug motherfucker.

“Fine. What do you wanna bet on?”

Motherfucker blinks.

“I didn’t think this far ahead.”

“Are you serious? Then why’d you bring it up!” Unbelievable. _Un-fucking-believable_.

“What do you have?”

“Tch,” Donghyuck rummages through his pockets. He pulls out a Jolly Rancher lollipop, a few coins, the receipt for the popsicles earlier, and the Tic Tac case with the taped screwdriver on it.

“What’s that?” The other asked, pointing at the the most absurd thing in the bunch.

“A lock pick, duh.”

The boy only nodded his head and kept quiet. Good, because Donghyuck didn’t know how he would convince him that this worn off Tic Tac case is an effective breaking in device.

“I’ll take the Rancher.”

“No the fuck you won’t. What are _you_ betting with anyway?”

“Yuta keeps a secret stash of snacks behind the counter.”

“It’s on, bitch.”

The character select music blasts through the speakers and Donghyuck hovers over Hawks. He thinks that if he wants to beat MRK, he needs to play his best but he doesn’t know how the other plays so he’s a little hesitant. He takes a peak at the other’s screen and saw the selection box flicking back and forth between Endeavour and Mirko. Mirko wouldn’t be a problem to defeat, he could take her down within a few seconds. Endeavour, however, is a big problem on its own. Hawks’ feathers aren’t exactly fire proof per se, and Endeavour was strong in all aspects range and close combat wise. Donghyuck would have to strategically dodge all of his flames while also being able to hit him.

The timer for selection ticks down and Donghyuck locks on Hawks. Whatever. He could take down anyone regardless on who it was.

The other boy selects Endeavour when the timer was down to one second.

The battle begins.

The screen flashes a countdown and Donghyuck leans in close, eyes determined and focused, and hands readily resting on the buttons and the joystick. Everything is on the line for this match: his reputation, his pride, _his Jolly Rancher_.

A loud “START!” filters out of the speakers.

Endeavour shoots an intense fire right from the start and Hawks instantly flew away to safety, hovering just above the flames. Having the upper hand midair, Hawks sent out a few of his feathers to attack. Success. Endeavour’s health bar decreases to a fifth. Donghyuck presses on the buttons twice before he’s dispatching Hawks to swoop around Endeavour and give him a kick from there. Donghyuck smirks when he hears the other curse under his breath as Endeavour’s health went down a quarter.

Donghyuck smacks away, controlling Hawks to send his feathers towards Endeavour once again, but was burnt into crisp before he was reeling back after Endeavour hit him with a Flashfire Fist-Hell Spider. Hawks’ health bar goes down by a half. It was now Donghyuck’s turn to curse under his breath, but it was not the time to give up. Not yet. Not when this bastard on his right is waiting to recharge to use his power move.

Endeavour fired again and Donghyuck was able to dodge it just in time, and was able to charge at him with a slice from his feather blades. Endeavour fell on his knees at the impact. Alright, that’s good. If Donghyuck keeps us this pace, he’ll be able to defeat his opponent with his power move. He just has to keep himself above-

“What flavor is the Rancher?” Endeavour burns one of his blades and tried to aim at Hawks, too.

“You’re not taking my Jolly Rancher.” Donghyuck drifts to the air, keeping himself out of reach.

“I’m just asking.” He blasts at the ground to push himself to the sky and shoots a barrage of inferno at Hawks. Donghyuck avoids it.

“Well, it doesn’t matter because I’ll-“ Endeavour goes above him and attacks with Prominence Burn from behind. Hawks’ health bar is now empty.

“I win.”

Donghyuck stares at the screen, and Hawks stares back; one was lying on the ground and one was frozen on his seat. ‘K.O’ flashes on his side of the screen, bright and red. Donghyuck continues to gawk.

“What the fuck just happened?”

“You lost.”

You see, Donghyuck has lost before; but he did not lose to nobodies who played against bots and wore mismatched Converses, no, Donghyuck doesn’t lose to just anyone without putting up a fight.

“No,” Donghyuck grits his teeth. “you cheated.”

“In what way did I cheat?”

“You distracted me!”

The other boy leans on the control panel, face slack. “You were given the option to,” He waves his hand lazily in the air. “not reply, you know?”

Oh, so now he’s _teasing_. “Fuck you. I know-“

“Jolly Rancher, please.” He said in a singsong way, his hand stretched out, fingers wiggling.

“Go to hell.”

Donghyuck slaps the Jolly Rancher on his hand a little too hard that both of their hands were pushed down and let the candy slip from their holds down to the floor. The candy now shattered into pieces.

“My Rancher...”

“Play me again.”

“You broke my Rancher.”

“Fuck. I’ll buy you a whole pack of Jolly Ranchers if you play me again, bastard.”

Donghyuck doesn’t know what time it is, but he thinks that it’s probably around two in the morning and he’s played with this boy for seventy five matches straight. His fingers were starting to feel sore and the other was starting to move a little slower and when Donghyuck asked why, he said he was already feeling sleepy.

Not that Donghyuck kept score of their matches in his head, but the other was leading by one point and he has made it tonight’s mission to at least make the scores a tie. It wasn’t Donghyuck’s style to use his power move right from the start, which the other caught up on and used it against him, so when Hawks lunged at Eraserhead with a power move and landed him an instant K.O, he jumped up from his seat and cheered in victory. Donghyuck thinks he saw a little smile forming on the other’s lips.

But it’s perhaps two in the morning now and Donghyuck was feeling hungry because the pizza he’d eaten from a while ago was now long gone and digested. His stomach growls and the other huffs a laugh, but his stomach growls too, a light blush settles on his cheeks and Donghyuck snickers.

“Didn’t you say your big bro hides some snacks?”

The other beams at this, immediately standing up to head his way behind the counter and Donghyuck follows him, propping himself up the counter and bringing his legs close to his chest.

“Won’t your brother notice that his food is missing.”

“It’s fine. He knows I get some of it when I’m here.”

A bit more of rustling was heard before a bunch of snacks were shoved at his side. The other boy also pulled himself up to the counter and situated himself beside the pile, legs dangling.

Donghyuck looks over at the choices of snacks and picks a Choco Pie up, unwrapping it and biting on it, letting the chocolate delicacy melt in his mouth; Donghyuck hums at the taste. He glances at the boy beside him and saw that he was helping himself with a bag of chips, his legs casually swinging in an alternate manner.

“So is your name Mark or something?”

“How’d you know?”

“The username you enter on the game isn’t that hard to decipher.”

Mark hums. “How about yours?”

“What is?”

“What’s your name?” Silence.

“It’s Donghyuck.”

“Oh.”

And then it’s silent again. Donghyuck is a loud person in itself, constantly having the energy to stay active and making everyone around him laugh, it’s also a plus that he’s surrounded by loud dorks as well, but this—this is nice. The silence. It wasn’t the awkward or heavy kind, this was light. The one where you feel like everything that has been holding you down has been stripped away for even just a moment, the one that makes you feel at ease. It’s the same kind of silence Donghyuck gets whenever he goes to the hilltop alone, lying down on the grass, under the shade of a big old tree, and watching the leaves and clouds sway above him. _Light_.

Donghyuck hears crinkling next to him so he turns to the direction of the noise and saw Mark neatly folding the wrapper of the chips he was eating, occasionally pressing it down his thigh to flatten it, before placing it down and getting another snack.

“What year are you in?” Donghyuck asks, crumpling the wrapper of his Choco Pie and depositing it on his side.

“I’m starting college after summer.”

Donghyuck snorts. “And you’re spending your summer in a stupid arcade.”

“All of my friends are back in Canada,” Mark fumbles at the edge of the wrapper. “I don’t really have anyone here except my family.”

Oh. Donghyuck mumbles a tiny ‘Shit, sorry’ but Mark waves it off with a chuckle.

“What about you? What year are you in?”

“Going into my last.”

Mark nods at that and told something along the lines of enjoy it to the fullest, as if Donghyuck and his friends didn’t plan to stick together ‘til they’re in their death beds. They just sat there on top of the ticket counter, asking and answering each other back and forth and going at it at the pile of snacks in between them.

“What course are you taking in,” Donghyuck shudders, the thought of college life makes him both scared and excited. “college?”

Mark pops a gummy worm in his mouth, smacking at it loudly as he chewed. “Music production.”

“That’s cool.”

Silence engulfs them again, saved from the occasional sound of ripping and crumpling packages. It’s around three a.m right now, probably. Donghyuck doesn’t know, can’t really see the arms of the clock behind the counter properly, but he is aware that it’s late. His mind wanders back to his house, his parents sleeping soundly on their bed, completely oblivious of the fact that their son had snuck out to take on this asshole next to him; but Donghyuck has long learned that Mark isn’t much of an asshole at all if they weren’t playing Plus Ultra. Instead, he found his presence oddly comforting.

Why? Donghyuck doesn’t know. _It just is_.

“Donghyuck, can you sing?” The volume of Mark’s voice was almost easy to miss—it was soft and distant.

“Of fucking course I can sing. My voice is of a goddamn angel’s.”

“Then,” Mark swallowed, his adam’s apple moving as so and Donghyuck’s eyes followed the movement unconsciously. “can you sing for me?”

Donghyuck was taken aback by the sudden request, a quip on the tip of his tongue but he can’t bring himself to say no, not when those eyes are shining brightly under the neon lights.

“Do you have a song request?”

“Anything is fine.”

“Don’t you dare sleep on me.”

“I won’t, don’t worry.”

“If you fall in love with me because of my voice, that’s on you.”

Mark laughs, a breath of air passing his lips, but he didn’t say anything—didn’t deny nor acknowledged anything. Donghyuck clears his throat as he sets down the snack he was currently eating and sits to a more comfortable position, prompting to just sit cross-legged. He takes in a deep breath before a melody comes out of his lips, lyrics forming with every open of his mouth. The familiar song of Michael Jackson echoing the arcade as Donghyuck sang with his eyes closed.

Donghyuck was right. His voice _is_ of a goddamn angel’s. Mark closes his eyes as he basks in his voice, lets the sound of Donghyuck’s voice take him away to some other place, _lets him soar_. He doesn’t sing for long, though, and Mark misses it almost instantly, craving for more.

“If you want to hear me sing a whole song then take me to a karaoke place.” He said, but there was no bite in his voice. It was friendly and inviting and gentle. Mark considers the idea of taking him to that karaoke place.

“I’ll produce a song one day and you’re gonna sing it.”

“Damn right I’ll better.”

A promise. A promise that’s far from the present they are in right now, but it weighs them down and floats them up at the same time. Donghyuck will keep Mark’s word for it and Mark does the same, the multiple arcade games being the witnesses of this subtle moment.

“It’s late we should probably head home.” Mark says, hopping off the counter and gathering their trash to dispose it at the bin near his brother’s secret stash.

“Can I walk you home?” Donghyuck hops off too.

Mark smiles as he dips his hands in his jean’s pockets. “Sure.”

When Mark locks the back door of the arcade, they started their walk back to Mark’s house. The town is silent and still so they walk at the center of the road, pinkies unknowingly interlocking as they walked on a steady pace.

“You should hang with us,” Donghyuck offered as they come to a stop in front of the other boy’s house. “We can go to the hilltop when it’s not raining, and my friends will probably annoy you to no end but... It’ll be nice.”

It was silent after that. A blush creeps its way on Donghyuck’s cheeks, painting it light pink, suddenly embarrassed but he was hoping.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure,” Mark was smiling and Donghyuck thinks he wants to kiss this stupid son of a bitch, but maybe he’ll reserve that when the time is more right. When the sun is kind and warm and they’re not sleep deprived. Yeah, maybe he’ll kiss him by then.

But for now... _for now._

“I’ll see you later.”

When it rains in the middle of the afternoon, Donghyuck found himself staying in Mark’s house.

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired from another fic i hope i was able to make it as my own :] let me know what you think in the comments or in my [cc](https://curiouscat.me/j___sung) !! hehe


End file.
